(there's a thread with photos and nothing photos, a thread about christmas and a thread about other singers named sarah, none of which count)
new record is very nice. not in the faint praise sense, in the sense that sometimes you want a record that is just exceedingly, comfortingly, rainy-afternoon-with-tea-and-blankets nice
― for sale: baby shoes, never worn your ass (katherine), Thursday, 11 June 2015 22:24 (eight years ago) link
...and that record is whichever one of the last 6 or 7 Saint Etienne albums happens to be your favourite.
― everything, Thursday, 11 June 2015 22:28 (eight years ago) link
not quite? not for me, at any rate
― for sale: baby shoes, never worn your ass (katherine), Thursday, 11 June 2015 22:29 (eight years ago) link
The vibe is very similar to Interlude or the 52 Pilot EP.
― everything, Thursday, 11 June 2015 22:31 (eight years ago) link
It is streaming on NPR btw if others would like to chime in.
― everything, Friday, 12 June 2015 00:09 (eight years ago) link
Extraordinary album. Pretty much loved the whole thing on first listen.
― timellison, Friday, 12 June 2015 07:05 (eight years ago) link
I loved Lipslide a lot and if felt like a distinct enough proposition so I'm looking forward to hearing this.
― boxedjoy, Friday, 12 June 2015 09:32 (eight years ago) link
Oh Pitchfork and Katherine St. Asaph, this is an 8.1 and not a 7.1. I believe in this record, in its musical scope, its lyrical depth, and its flawless execution.
― timellison, Sunday, 21 June 2015 00:54 (eight years ago) link
okay
― for sale: baby shoes, never worn your ass (katherine), Sunday, 21 June 2015 06:37 (eight years ago) link
(it's a good album! I even started a thread for it!)
― for sale: baby shoes, never worn your ass (katherine), Sunday, 21 June 2015 06:38 (eight years ago) link
not available in the US until july
― erry red flag (f. hazel), Sunday, 21 June 2015 07:34 (eight years ago) link
I like the review a lot! I guess I was wondering how a pastoral album attains a higher score. Maybe with even more involved lyrical narratives. But I somehow don't want that from this album and there's no way I'd ask for the musical scope to improved upon either.
― timellison, Sunday, 21 June 2015 16:25 (eight years ago) link
As a matter of fact, I'd say that more involved lyrical narratives are what I emphatically do not want from this album. That's not what I like about pop songs as an art form.
Just throwing stuff out there.
― timellison, Sunday, 21 June 2015 16:56 (eight years ago) link
Red Kite is a really lovely album. I wasn't expecting to like it all as I didn't really like the lead single with Nicky Wire and I never rated Lipslide, but this is really enjoyable.
― Kitchen Person, Sunday, 21 June 2015 21:41 (eight years ago) link
yeah, part of that might be that my favorite thing about cracknell (and saint etienne) is how said "involved lyrical narratives" (did I write that? maybe I wrote that, who knows) show up everywhere. these are both lipslide-era tracks, but something like "four months, two weeks" gets so hyperspecific, from the title on down, that if you try using it for its obvious hypothetical purpose you're stymied by line one with "I tried to grow my hair long" hvery funny, she said, looking at her year-plus of audrey ii-esque hair growth -- I wonder if this was written from a male perspective; I don't think this is one of the ones Etienne Daho was involved with, but it'd make sense). "how far" either drowns its chorus in an in medias res dystopian yarn, or its chorus drowns that, I can't decide -- probably it depends on where in the song I am.
(as you can tell, I cut about six tangents from the original draft)
― for sale: baby shoes, never worn your ass (katherine), Monday, 22 June 2015 03:25 (eight years ago) link
i mostly dig this (it is out digitally in the us, btw)
take the silver sounds scarily like a phish song that I can't specifically rc, something abt her tone and delivery and pacing, does not work for me though the folk tinge in ragdoll does fwiw
― johnny crunch, Monday, 22 June 2015 16:24 (eight years ago) link
nothing left to talk abt & hearts are for breaking are my favs
― johnny crunch, Monday, 22 June 2015 16:25 (eight years ago) link
really excellent album and also i'm glad this is the sound she went for, something a bit more pastoral. she really shines on everything st etienne has released but i think her work on their folkier songs (esp some of the songs from 'tiger bay' or something like 'slow down at the castle', which this album probably owes a lot to) is really underrated.
― nomar, Monday, 22 June 2015 17:40 (eight years ago) link
Yeah, this reminds me of some of the folkier moments on Tiger Bay and some of Sound of Water too.
― Kitchen Person, Monday, 22 June 2015 17:44 (eight years ago) link
I listened once and it didn't grab me. It was pleasant but I didn't really give a close listen Will give it another go
― Fatalist AmandaPalmistry (irrational), Monday, 22 June 2015 21:46 (eight years ago) link
that is exactly how I felt, although after two listens. I love Saint Etienne but this feels too safe and cosy for my tastes.
― boxedjoy, Monday, 22 June 2015 21:49 (eight years ago) link
nothing left to talk abt is really nice, i used to be a big sucker for call n response m/f stuff and otherwise it strikes me as a song belle & sebastien couldve wrote
― johnny crunch, Friday, 26 June 2015 23:15 (eight years ago) link
ok hearts are for breaking is really really killer
― johnny crunch, Saturday, 4 July 2015 02:09 (eight years ago) link
http://thequietus.com/articles/19159-sarah-cracknell-saint-etienne-favourite-albums-interview
― nomar, Thursday, 5 November 2015 20:00 (eight years ago) link
'underneath the stars' is my current jam from this but it's a really excellent album all the way through
― nomar, Monday, 16 November 2015 19:09 (eight years ago) link
i liked your pitchfork review, katherine. i read the archived review for the kelly's locker EP and it reminds me what a different and occasionally misogynist atmosphere reeked from that site back in the day.
― nomar, Monday, 16 November 2015 19:17 (eight years ago) link
are you sure you don't mean the lipslide reveiw
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Monday, 16 November 2015 22:30 (eight years ago) link
*review, but really that one is more egregious
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Monday, 16 November 2015 22:31 (eight years ago) link
dang i missed that one, yeesh
― nomar, Monday, 16 November 2015 22:47 (eight years ago) link
imo nothing quite as "*steeples fingers* that is a very interesting opinion" as the kelly's locker review fantasizing about which celebrities could be eliminated and the world wouldn't care, then subsequently calling sarah cracknell a "marginal candidate for existence", but still...
― nomar, Monday, 16 November 2015 22:51 (eight years ago) link
Second single from Red Kite:
http://www.cherryred.co.uk/saint-etiennes-sarah-cracknell-releases-her-new-solo-single-take-the-silver-on-limited-edition-7-vinyl-this-friday/
― Jeff W, Monday, 23 November 2015 19:30 (eight years ago) link
http://www.philmarriott.net/ep-4-sarah-cracknell-holding-man/
On the latest episode of The Phil Marriott Podcast, Phil talks to singer-songwriter Sarah Cracknell about her new collaboration with dance duo Lisbon Kid (‘We Look At The Stars’) and the forthcoming Saint Etienne album – due June 2017.
― nomar, Thursday, 26 January 2017 19:05 (seven years ago) link